LOS ANGELES — The Lakers’ frontcourt could receive a depth boost ahead of Saturday’s do-or-die playoff matchup against the Denver Nuggets, with backup big man Christian Wood being in the active lineup for the first time in more than two months.
Wood, who has been sidelined since the mid-February All-Star break, was upgraded from questionable to available, Coach Darvin Ham said before Game 4 at Crypto.com Arena.
The eight-season NBA veteran had left knee surgery last month and hasn’t played since the All-Star break, sidelined with what the team officially deemed “left knee effusion” (swelling) for a month before the procedure.
Wood averaged 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game (50 games) during the regular season after signing a two-year, $5.75 million contract with the Lakers as a free agent in September.
Forward Jarred Vanderbilt (right midfoot sprain) remains out.
Wood wasn’t in the team’s rotation, with Jaxson Hayes as the backup big after only playing 11 combined minutes in the series’ first three games – including zero minutes in Thursday’s Game 3 loss.
GOING COLD
The Lakers and Nuggets, the league’s second- and ninth-best 3-point shooting teams over the second half of the regular season at 39.5% and 37% respectively, shot poorly in the series’ first three games.
The Lakers shot 30.2% on 3s while the Nuggets shot 26.9%, ranked 12th and 15th among the 16 playoff teams.
Both teams had been particularly bad shooting when wide-open 3s – when the closest defender is within six feet of the shooter.
The Lakers entered Saturday shooting 25.6% on wide-open looks from beyond the arc, the third-worst mark among playoff teams, while the Nuggets shot 25%, tied with the Dallas Mavericks for the worst mark.
“Well, I can’t speak for the Lakers and what Darvin thinks but I know for us In the last two games we’re 5 of 30 on shots that are being tracked as wide open,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “So you’re getting great looks, we’re just not knocking them down.
“And for us right now, from a three-point perspective, Nikola [Jokic] and Michael [Porter Jr.] are shooting it well. And all of our other shooters have shooters who have shot it well all year long have not shot it well. Guys like Jamal [Murray], guys like [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope], whoever else, so I fully expect that to change at some point.”